ZODIAC FIGHTERS (1978)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *metaphysical*

Funny how quickly one's priorities can change. I was all set to bomb this obscure old Polly Shang Kuan fantasy as being one of the worst chopsockies I'd ever seen. Then I saw DARK LADY OF KUNG FU, and FIGHTERS started looking at least a little better.

It's still not even decent formula, and the few positive online reviews seem focused on the film's "so bad it's good" qualities. I found FIGHTERS far too repetitive to tickle my funny bone, though.

So a poor woman (Kuan), whose name (according to one source) is East Sea Dragon, is called upon by Princess Heartbreak to take on the evildoer Tiger Shark (Lo Lieh, only seen in the final minutes of the flick) and his servants, the Five Elements. Heartbreak shows Dragon a cave, claiming that it used to be the repository of twelve scrolls which held the power of the Twelve Zodiac Animals. But eleven kung-fu practitioners found their way into the cave and transferred the zodiac-powers  to themselves. Now there's just one zodiac scroll, and Heartbreak talks Dragon into taking on that power, which just happens to be the power of the Zodiac Dragon. That means Dragon now wields authority over all the other animal-fighters, but she has to find them first.

What follows is loads and loads of silly shit in which actors cavort about dressed in cheap animal-costumes-- rabbits, pigs, dogs, etc. After a lot of slapstick routines, Dragon finally assembles her warriors on a beach to battle Tiger Shark. He's a little bit cool, since he not only has henchmen with lobster-claws, but also a palanquin that can shoot sharks at his enemies. Alternately, the sharks can also shoot bear-traps from their mouths. This is the sort of inspired lunacy that would have upgraded the film to the wackiness level of, say, Kuan's FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL. Kuan doesn't have any decent battles, so FIGHTERS is not much more than a blip in her kung-fu diva career.